Take Action to Never Forget

We teach our children in religious school the story of Anne Frank; our congregations often mention the victims of the Holocaust when they recite the mourner’s kaddish; and, every May, we stand together as Jewish people on Holocaust Memorial Day. While all of these serve as our testament as Jews to the value and promise to “never forget” we need to ensure that we as Americans also “never forget” our commitment to the survivors of the Holocaust, 127,000 of whom are still living in the United States.

There is important legislation in the House of Representatives, being voted on today, to ensure that aging Holocaust survivors, three quarters of whom are over the age of 80, receive the services from the government they need to age with dignity. Holocaust survivors are five times more likely to fall below the poverty line than other older Americans and studies have further shown that institutionalized care for survivors has a disproportionately negative affect.

As Jews we are instructed in the Ten Commandments to “honor your father and mother.” This belief obligates us to care and respect all of our elders and ensure that we heed the instruction in Psalm 71, “Cast me not away in time of old age, forsake me not when my strength is spent.”

There are currently 127,000 Holocaust survivors in the United States and they need your help to receive increased care and services from the government. Click here to send a letter to your Representative urging them to support this important legislation.